‘Let women Skype docs for abortion pill at home’

WOMEN should be able to take abortion pills at home without seeing a doctor face-to-face, say leading medics.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is calling on health bosses to allow women to collect the pills from their local pharmacy following an online chat with their GP such as via Skype or FaceTime.

Women are currently allowed to take the second medicine needed for an early medical abortion, misoprostol, at home.

The RCOG says the Department of Health and Social Care should also now let them take the first drug, mifepristone, in their own home.

The recommendation was made in an RCOG report, called Better for Women, which said: ‘All women should be able to access abortion care easily and without fear of penalties or harassment.’

In 2018, there were 200,608 abortions across England and Wales – up four per cent on the previous year.

A survey of more than 3,000 women which accompanied the RCOG report found that many women are struggling to find basic services around contraception, abortion care and the menopause.

Nearly four in ten said they were unable to access contraception services and six in ten cannot access unplanned pregnancy services, including abortion care, locally.

Just over a third said they did not attend their last smear test and six in ten said there were no local support services for the menopause.

The RCOG called for one-stop women’s health clinics to be set up to provide healthcare needs for women. They should be available in the evenings and at weekends to improve accessibility.